HYBE America has appointed Blake Foster as Head of Business Intelligence, tasking the former Warner Music Group executive with overseeing data strategy and analytics across the company’s US operations.
In the newly created role, Foster will be responsible for developing HYBE America’s data infrastructure and building out its insights function, with a focus on harnessing the data generated by the company’s artists and IP.
Foster joins from Warner Music Group, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President of Business Intelligence.
In that role, he led the company’s analytics and insights division, overseeing a team of data specialists and contributing to enterprise-wide data strategy, including performance measurement and forecasting processes.
According to Monday’s (March 30) announcement, he also played a role in broader digital transformation initiatives, including efforts to prepare the organization for AI-driven workflows.
Prior to leading Business Intelligence, Foster served as SVP of Global Catalog Development & Marketing at WMG, where, according a press release, “he drove more than $7 million in incremental revenue and 2 billion incremental streams in just two years by defining and executing a global strategy for on-roster catalog” for artists like including Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Charlie Puth, and Wiz Khalifa.
Prior to WMG, Foster held senior marketing roles at Atlantic Records and served as General Manager of OWSLA, the electronic music label founded by Skrillex.
During his frontline career, he worked on campaigns for artists including Skrillex and Diplo, David Guetta, and Icona Pop, spanning the EDM/pop crossover wave of the 2010s.
These included releases such as Skrillex and Diplo’s collaborative project featuring Where Are Ü Now, which relaunched Justin Bieber’s career; David Guetta’s highest-charting album (Listen), which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200; and Icona Pop’s I Love It.
HYBE America said Foster will focus on aligning data, strategy, and creative execution as the company continues to scale its operations in the United States.
The hire arrives amid a broader period of executive expansion at HYBE America. The company recently rebranded its Nashville-based Big Machine Label Group as Blue Highway Records and appointed Jake Basden as CEO, shortly before the departure of longtime executive Scott Borchetta.
Elsewhere, HYBE America has made several senior leadership appointments in recent months, including Ethiopia Habtemariam as President of its music division, Gene Whitney as General Counsel, and Johanna Fuentes as Executive Vice President and Head of Communications and Public Relations.Music Business Worldwide
